(27
Feb. 2013, Palatine) - College of DuPage Men's Basketball Coach Don Klass will tell you just how tough it is to beat the same team three times in one season. But that's exactly what his team accomplished in the NJCAA Region IV quarter-finals against Harper College Wednesday night, with an outstanding combination of team play and height to run the Hawks right out of their own gym with a 79-69 final score.

The game plan of crashing the boards led by Jake Martin's 27-points was outstanding, but Martin was not about to take all the credit. "That was our game plan to beat Harper," according to Martin. "We got a lot of size on them and my team mates did a great job passing the ball and they hit a lot of big of shots for us. Hats off to my team mates."

It was by no way an easy win for the Chaparrals. It wasn't until ten minutes into the first half that DuPage tied the Hawks at 13, and it was tied at 33 at the half. In the second-half there were constant lead changes and ties, and then with a little more than four minutes left in regulation the College of DuPage never looked back, winning by 10.

Next up for COD, a Region IV semi-final matchup against Joliet Junior College on Saturday, at 6:00 PM at Harper College.

Chaparrals (free)throw one away vs Joliet

(23
Feb. 2013, Lisle) - For this final regular season game on Saturday, Coach Klaas said, "I'm really proud of my kids, they really battled like crazy."

It was one of those games, though, that The Chaps didn't hit free-throws in the second half. In the first-half they hit 82% from the line. In the second half, they hit 37% from the charity stripe.

So in the end, College of DuPage fell 68-62 to the team that won the conference. Overall, COD finished 5-9 in conference, and 12-19 for the regular season.

The Chaps open the Region 4 Tournament Thursday, at Harper College, tipoff is 7:00 PM.

Chaparrals get hot at right time

(20
Feb. 2013, River Grove) - If there's one thing the COD men's hoops team has taught us this season is that their games are never over until the final buzzer goes off. Tonight February 20 was no different, but this time the Chaps escaped victorious, 65-62 on a neutral court at Triton College in River Grove.

Madison shot (52%) lights out in the first half, including 6 of 11 shooting from beyond the arc to take a seven point halftime lead.

In the second stanza it didn't take long for DuPage to dial down the Packs' shooting to under 38% from the field. In addition, the Chaps did what it took to post a 'W.' They got 25-points from the bench, shot 62% from the charity stripe and got double digits in total points from both Jake Martin and Ryan Radar.

The College of DuPage Men's Hoops team (5-7 conference, 12-17 overall) will close out its regular season Saturday night, February 23 at 7:00 hosting Joliet Junior College at the Walker Athletic Center in Lisle. Joliet is tied at the top of the N4C Conference with Triton, at 10-1.

Chaparrals bounce back at
Harper

(13
Feb. 2013, Palatine) -
First things first, the bad taste in the mouths of all associated with
Chaparrals Basketball, from player to fans is gone. The College of DuPage
Hoopsters paid a visit to Palatine Wednesday night and ran up 45-points
on The Hawks in the first half in route to an 81-73 victory.

For the most part the Chaps got into the paint at will. Kendall Bailey
directed traffic nicely, not only scoring 14 of his own points, but dishing
the ball off to his mates for ten assists. Jake Martin was next in line
with 13 points.

In the words of one Assistant Coach, "they played very well, it's
about time."

It seems The Chaps challenge this season never stops. On Saturday night
February 16 at 7:00 COD takes its 4-7 conference record to River Grove
for a matchup with the 10-1 Triton Trojans.

Eagles hand Chaps their 4th
straight loss

(9
Feb. 2013, Lisle) -
The Rock Valley men put on quite a show at the expense of the Chaparrals.
As a matter of fact, COD led just twice during the contest. The first
one was 2-0, and the second lead for DuPage was 9-8.

Other than that, it was all Eagles who led by 26 at the half and led by as much as 32 several times in the second half. The Chaparrals did start more height in their line-up, but except for Denzel Washington it did little good. The 6'5 Washington finished the game with a total of 17-Points.

COD went to the line just six times, but drained only half of those free throws. Rock Valley, on the other hand, went to the stripe hitting 88% from the line.

In the end, The Golden Eagles took the game by 25-Points, 88-63. The Chaps men have now lost four straight conference games, dropping to 3-7 and 10-16 overall.

It's back on the road for the College of DuPage men, when they visit
Harper College Wednesday night, February 13 at 7:00.

Buzzer-beater leads to third
straight defeat

(6
Feb. 2013, Chicago) - The COD Men's Basketball Team had developed a win one lose one pattern since conference play began, that is, until it lost its third straight North Central Conference contest Wednesday night in Chicago, 61-59 to the Wright College Rams.

A last second three-pointer was the Chaps undoing, despite 15-points from Ryan Rader, 11 from Jake Martin and 10-points from Denzel Washington.

The DuPage Men look to stop the bleeding Saturday night at Walker
Athletics in Lisle, when the Rock Valley Golden Eagles pay a visit from Rockford. Heading into the Rock Valley game, College of DuPage is 3-6 in conference and 10-15 overall. Tip-off Saturday night is 7:00.

Staff unhappy after consecutive losses

(2
Feb. 2013, Lisle) - COD showed a bit too much hospitality to conference rival Milwaukee Area Technical College by sending them home with a 60-55 win.

Assistant Basketball Coach Ryan Connell says it's ironic DuPage should
lose to a tech school when the reasons for the loss are found right in
games statistics, "they went on a 17 to 4 run to end the game and
we were 3 for 10 from the free throw line in the second half and for the
game shot 30% from the field. That's not going to get it done. We handed
them this game; shame on us."

Coach Connell says this was the kind of game COD expected to win, and there have been a lot of those this season, but they're not learning from them. He says the coaches will keep coaching and teaching and trying to get the guys to understand how to win these games.

The Chaps played catch up the entire first half pulling within one at halftime, and taking the lead early in the second half. But in the end there were only four lead changes the entire game, and with the loss the DuPage men drop to 3-5 in conference and 10-14 overall.

It's back on the road for the Chaparrals this Wednesday, February 6 with a 7:00 tip-off at Wright Junior College.

DuPage drops another conference tilt

(30
Jan. 2013, Joliet, IL) - The Chaparral men's basketball squad have been outstanding nearly the entire season on defense, but they could not make up a ten point deficit in a key conference matchup at Joliet Junior College.

The final score Wednesday night, January 30: Joliet 62, DuPage 52. Jake Martin led the Chaps with 14 points while Denzel Washington finished with eight.

The Chaparral men will next play on their temporary home court this Saturday Night, February 2nd, when Milwaukee Technical comes to Walker
Athletics in Lisle for a 7:00 tip-off.

The COD Men's team is 3-4 in conference and 10-13 overall.

Chaps
take care of business in Mad-town

(26
Jan. 2013, Madison, WI) - Take care of business is exactly what the men who fly the floor for the Chaparrals of DuPage did to the Madison College WolfPack by a final score of 77-50. While COD may have only been seven-up on the "tech types" at the half, The Chaps were up by 27 when the final buzzer went off and the game went into the books.

For you "stat rats," it appears the squad is beginning to gel
and trust one and other. Everyone who dressed today saw playing time.
For the game, COD shot 49% from the field, 39% from three-point land and
70% from the line. 42-points came from the bench mob including 16 from
Delbert Williams, who led all scorers. Denzel was right behind with a
dozen, and don't forget about starters Rader, Johnson and Martin who each
doubled for a total of 31. 23 of DuPage's points came off turnovers, 17
were of the second chance variety and 38 were from within the paint.

With the win, The College of DuPage men even up to 3-3 in conference and 10-12 overall. Next up, an extremely tough test at Joliet, Wednesday night, January 30th with a 7:00 tip.

Tempers flare during Chaparrals
win

(19
Jan. 2013, Lisle) -
The statement 'college basketball is a physical game' proved true once
again Saturday night during a conference battle between DuPage and the
extremely physical Harper Hawks, who were visitors to the Chaparrals temporary
home in Lisle.

The contest was moving along at a good clip with just over four minutes
left in the first half and the Chaps up by a dozen. That's when COD's
Jake Martin was the recipient of a flagrant foul in the lane, which quickly
escalated into pushing, shoving and yelling... with most of the shouting
coming from Harper Coach Anthony Amarino. When all was said and done the
Hawks had been accessed three technical fouls.

DuPage was hit with just one "T", given to the offensive player
in the middle of the lane driving for the shot, Forward Jake Martin. Assistant
Coach Ryan Connell says The Chaparrals did a nice job of maintaining their
composure "college basketball is a physical game and Harper is a
more physical team, and I thought we did a nice job of rising up to compete
against them. We kept our heads and the cooler heads prevailed and we
didn't go crazy. We stayed within our game and I thought we did a nice
job."

COD shot an impressive 68% from the free throw line, and balanced scoring
from the field with four players finishing in double figures. Connell
was particularly impressed with the work of Sophomore Delbert Williams
off the bench, knocking down a bunch of key shots when they were needed.

With this win, College of DuPage pulls even in conference play at 2-2
and 9-11 overall. The Chaps next scheduled game is Wednesday, January
23, at Triton.

Chaparrals fall at Rock Valley

(16
Jan. 2013, Rockford) - The Chaparrals own Denzel Washington performed his version of the film Flight, which was highlighted by 21 total points in just 27 minutes on the court. While Washington hit 67% of his two-point field goals and 60% from three-point range, nobody else on DuPage scored in double figures.

The number of points Denzel scored in the game equaled the 21 point total COD finished with in the first half. Combine that with the Chaps 31 in the second-half and you get a grand total of 52. The Rock Valley Golden Eagles finished with 69 and a 17-point win.

One more number of note: The DuPage men had 10 free throw attempts and knocked down four, while Rock Valley made 13 of 16 from the charity stripe. That's a differential of 41%.

The Chaparrals overall record drops to 8-11 (1-2 in the N4C) while the Golden Eagles improved their overall record to 12-7 (3-0).

DuPage is back at its temporary home Saturday night, January 19, with a 7:00 tip against Harper College at Walker
Athletics in Lisle.

Chaparrals win first game at
their temporary home in Lisle

(12
Jan. 2013, Lisle) - While the COD men were known primarily for their defense in the first half of the season, the team is now looking for some solid shooters to rack up more points. As a matter of fact, the DuPage men have just added a pair of new players to their roster. In addition, Assistant Coach Ryan Connell says two members of the existing bench mob, Sophomore Guard Delbert Williams out of Joliet West and 2nd year man Jonovan Harris of Belleville "stepped up big time and did what they had to do."

It's the same situation with Tyler Mason and Jake Martin says Connell:
"We're looking for the guys who step up and do what it takes."

Saturday night, the Wight Rams opened the game with a 3-0 lead and led just one more time at 5-4 before the Chaps took a 7-5 advantage and never looked back. COD led by 15 at the half, and when it was over the scoreboard read Chaparral men were victorious over The Wright Rams, 64-51.

Up next for DuPage (1-1 in conference) it's the Rock Valley College Eagles
of Rockford with their 2-0 conference record.

Chaparrals
can't outrun Storm

(9
Jan. 2013, Milwaukee, WI)
- While the College of DuPage outscored Milwaukee Tech in
the second half, it wasn't enough to overcome a 13-point halftime deficit.
And even with two ties and five lead changes during the course of the
game, the DuPage men just couldn't take a lead and keep it losing 68-60.

With about 10 minutes left in regulation the COD men pulled within four,
and when the game clock got down to four the Chaps had pulled within a
bucket. However, the Stormers would not be shutdown at the free throw
line. Milwaukee Tech converted on 15 of 18 (83%) from the line.

On the other hand, DuPage would hit just 36-percent from the stripe,
36-percent from two point range and just nine-points from three-point
range. Both clubs were about even with points inside the paint with the
Stormers knocking down 22 to the Chaps 20.

Milwaukee Tech's Freshman Guard Jermaine Brisco tallied 34-points in
just over 39 minutes. In a losing cause, COD had balanced scoring from
Jake Martin with 12, Tyler Mason and Ryan Rader with 8 each, and John
Johnson and Delbert Williams with 7 points.

The Chaparral men take their 7-10 record to their new temporary home
at Walker Athletics in Lisle Saturday night, January 12th against Wilbur
Wright at 7:00.

COD men hoop it up to start
season's second half

(5
Jan. 2013, Grayslake) - The College of DuPage Men's Basketball Team played well in its final tune-up before conference action begins Wednesday night. The Chaparrals took down the College of Lake County Lancers in Grayslake, 56-44.

COD put the Lancers away with its defense and a double-double from Jake Martin who scored 15 and added 15 boards.

The DuPage men up their record to 7-9, with conference play tipping off for the Chaps January 9th in Wisconsin against the Milwaukee Area Technical College Stormers.

Chaparrals make it look easy as 16 players
chip in for a 26-point win

(11
Dec. 2012, Glen Ellyn)
- With a balanced attack against the NAIA Robert Morris
University JV, the COD men upped their record to 6-6 and back to .500.
For about the first eight minutes of the first half, the Eagle managed
to keep pace with the Chaps, but DuPage Assistant Coach Ryan Connell says
about that time his team began firing on all cylinders. "Our defense
is always what we're going to hang our hat on. We've been working practicing-wise
trying to improve our offensive side of the game, and I think tonight
that really showed that's what we're working on."

At the half, the Chaps had opened up a 14 point lead. With six minutes left they had extended it to 20, and when the buzzer went off, The Chaparral men were owners of an 82-56 win.

Three DuPage players finished in double figures and the team shot 73-percent from the free throw line, making 29 out of 40 from the line.

Up next for the COD Men Hoopsters, the 44th Annual William R. Bear Tournament at Highland Community College in Freeport. It takes place Friday and Saturday, December 14 and 15. DuPage plays its first game Friday night against Ellsworth (IA) Community College.

Klaas pleased with his team's play...
for the most part

(1
Dec. 2012, Glen Ellyn) - COD Chaparrals Men's Basketball Coach Don Klaas was genuinely pleased with the play of his club in Saturday night's consolation game, a 74-53 "clinic" to take the third place game against The Richard J. Daley Bulldogs. "I thought we played so well today," according to Klaas, "our offense, our defense, our ball handling, our awareness, everything was there today."

The difference between the consolation display put on by DuPage to beat the Bulldogs, and the COD Chaparrals opening round loss to The USF Fighting Saints (an NAIA team) just a night earlier, can be attributed to a couple of things. First and foremost says Coach Klaas was a lack of what he calls basketball IQ. "We were just out there. We were just playing and you can never just do that in varsity basketball. You can't just play. There has to be purpose to everything, and we just didn't have it."

The DuPage Head Coach felt you had to tip your hat to St. Francis. The Fighting Saints immediately came out and went out on a 15-2 run. Still, down by ten at the half, The Chaps never gave up. The team actually turned that ten point halftime deficit into a five point second half lead. They nearly took it to seven, but missed a wide open layup and what energy DuPage had left in the tank fizzled.

So the Coach Don Klaas winning formula of energy, purpose and hitting
shots proved once again a success, and that's how The Chaparral Men went
1 and 1 in their own invitational to beat the Bulldogs of Daley College
and win the consolation game.

By the way, The Sauk Valley Skyhawks from the Dixon-Sterling area along
the Rock River won the Invitational. In its opening round game, they had
to go to overtime to get by Daley. On Saturday, the Skyhawk's dropped
a defensive net over the Fighting Saints to become tournament champs.

Finally, Chaps Sophomore Guard John Johnson was named to the All-Invitational Team. In two games, Johnson averaged 14 points from the field and 75% from the line.

Catch the Chaparral Hoopsters on the COD Glen Ellyn campus next on Tuesday,
December 11th at 7 PM. It's a Junior Varsity Challenge from Robert Morris.

Fighting Saints fire at will to send the Chaparrals to the Consolation Game of their own hoops invitational

(30
Nov. 2012, Glen Ellyn) - The USF Fighting Saints stepped onto The Don Klaas Court Friday night, and it was "bombs away" from beyond the three point arch and the charity stripe!

When it was all over the University of St. Francis JV team, an NAIA school, had held off the DuPage men, 80-66, moving into Saturday's Championship against the Sauk Valley Community College Skyhawk's, and sending the Chaparrals to a Consolation tussle against a scrappy Richard J. Daley Bulldogs team.

In the USF vs. COD game, it was 15-2 Fighting Saints before most fans had their cheeks in the seats, and Coach Klaas had the chance to call for a time out. With just six minutes gone in the first half, the Chaps seemed to bottom out, down 18-4. They did, however, start to come back and at the half were down just 10 to the Fighting Saints 35-25.

In the first half, USF drained seven of its 10 three-pointers, and six of nine from the line. For the game, the NAIA JV team from Joliet hit 75 percent of its Free Throws (24 of 31) for the game.

In the second half, The Chaparrals scrapped and flopped their way into a 42-42 tie with The Fighting Saints, and then took the lead twice in the final minutes before succumbing to turnovers, fouls and free throws.
In the end they found themselves on the short end of an 80-66 loss to the University of St. Francis.

That means The Fighting Saints take on Sauk Valley for the DuPage Invitational Championship at 1:00PM and The DuPage Chaparrals (4-4) take on The Richard J Daley Bulldogs,in the consolation game at 3:00PM.

(20
Nov. 2012, Glen Ellyn) - Unfortunately The Chaps were on the right side of the wrong half! COD opened up an 11-0 lead before The Chiefs from Sugar Grove finally got on the board nearly seven minutes into the opening half. Waubonsee did pull to within three points of The Chaps in the first half, but the COD Men led at the half by nine.

At the half, Waubonsee made adjustments, shifted into fifth gear and at the same time COD opened the door and let the Chiefs right back in. Assistant Coach Ryan Connell says The Chaps "big men" need to get much more physical if they expect to be playing in March. "I think it was more of us making our mistakes. I think it was more of our turnovers. We allowed them to come back into the game. We just didn't come out with the fire in the second half, and that's what it's going to take to compete. They need to put two halves together."

So with just over 20 seconds left in the second half, COD was up by a single point 52-51, and then with just under ten seconds remaining, Chiefs guard D.J. Vaughn knocked down a three pointer and that's all she wrote. Final score from the College of DuPage, Waubonsee C.C. 54-52 over The COD Chaps.

The Chaps men drop to 3-3, but up next if you like holiday season hoops, Friday and Saturday, November 30 and December 1, it's the DuPage Tourney featuring COD, Sauk Valley, St. Francis and Richard J. Daley College.

It
may not have been the prettiest of games - but a win is a win for the
men's hoopsters

(17
Nov. 2012, Glen Ellyn)
-It was close, it was physical and at the half
it was tied at 31, but in the end COD held on and held off Olive-Harvey
to move above .500 with a 78-73 win over the Panthers, a City College
of Chicago school.

After the
game Chaps Assistant Coach Ryan Connell had props for two of the team's
sophomores and freshman forward Antwon Smith II out of North Lawndale.
"Antwon's a really good kid for us, an excellent freshman to keep
building on every time he steps on the floor. I think John Johnson was
more of that field general I'd say tonight. Antwon did a great job in
the post and taking care of the ball, but if we don't have like a john
Johnson and Jon Harris taking care of the basketball and bringing it down
the floor than we wouldn't have been in that game."

COD opened
up a ten point lead with about eight minutes left in the game, but Olive-Harvey
cut it to two with just over three-and-a-half minutes remaining. But that
would be as close as the Panthers would get, sending the Chaps to the
line one too many times down the stretch. Although College of DuPage made
just 57% of its free throws, it converted 19 of 33 from the charity stripe
in the second half. Freshman guard Teyvious Montgomery of Rockford Lutheran
led COD with 19 points.

Next up for
the Chaps men, a visit from Waubonsee Community College Tuesday night,
November 18th at 7:00.

Men's
hoopsters play 1st half keep away and Oakton never recovers

(10
Nov. 2012, Glen Ellyn)
- It was a fun one to watch as the College of DuPage Men's squad had
its way with the Raiders from Des Plaines, doubling up Oakton Community
College in the first half alone 32-16, and cruising to a final score of
65-51.

According
to Assistant Coach Ryan Connell, fans got a taste of some pretty impressive
defense courtesy of The Chaps. "They had a real hard time getting
into the gut of our one-three-one. So our zone defense is really solid
and we're going to cause a lot of teams a lot of trouble with that."

A balanced
scoring attack from the COD men Saturday including 14 points from first
year 6'7 center Ryan Rader. Another freshman center Leverenzel Booth,
at 6'8 out of Hinsdale Central kicked in another 11, while 6'5 freshman
guard Denzel Washington from Hinsdale Adventist Academy (not to be confused
with the actor with the same name) connected on a beautiful slam dunk
that brought a roar and howl from the crowd with just over five minutes
left in the first half. But the cheers suddenly turned to booing and hissing
when the ref called a technical on Washington for what the official said
was Washington slapping the backboard. "Denzel Washington's going
to be excitement, says Coach Connell, "he's got a lot of energy and
he'll be a lot of fun to watch."

By the way
Coach Klaas's club converted on 15 of 23 chances from the free throw line,
which comes out to 65-Percent.

The men's
team ups its record to 2-1 and will hit the road for a Thursday night
game at Kishwaukee College in the rural corn fields of Malta, Illinois.
The next chance to see the College of DuPage on its home court is Saturday
afternoon November 17th against Olive Harvey.

Squad
hands Coach Klaas a win in his 35th home opener

(8
Nov. 2012, Glen Ellyn) - After a lightning
fast wakeup call in its 2012-2013 season opener at McHenry County College
in Crystal Lake Tuesday night, the COD Men's Basketball team shook off
the nerves and took care of the Elgin College Spartans from start to finish
with a 63-50 drubbing. "We had a tough loss on Tuesday against McHenry
and the guys were a little shaken up," according to Assistant Men's
Basketball Coach Ryan Connell. "But tonight was a good night for
them. They came out, were able to get it back together. They did take
control right away."

The Chaps
led by seven at the half, before shooting lights out to begin the second
half with eight straight points. COD never looked back in the second half,
extending its lead as the clock continued to wind down. According to Coach
Connell, men's basketball fans can expect to see more of what they saw
Thursday night as the season rolls on. "You're going to see a team
that's going to be balanced that's going to be solid that's going to be
fundamentally strong. We are not the team that's going to fly up and down
the floor, like a few of these teams we've already seen. We're going to
beat teams under our terms."

For the Chaps,
6'7 Center Ryan Rader, a freshman out of Willowbrook in Lombard, led all
scorers with 15 points. Sophomore Guard John Johnson out of Richfield,
Minnesota, added 10 points as did 6'5 Sophomore Forward Jake Martin.

Next up for
the 1-1 men's squad is Oakton College on the COD campus Saturday, November
10th. The game tips at 3:00pm.